The Virtues of being a volunteer

I have spent a week here and now I have come to a point where Louisiana is offering up it's first challenge, a hurricane. Essentially this has put a halt on our orientation processes within the Living With Purpose program, we have to wait Isaac out. At first I was a little nervous about the idea of a storm which had the potential to disrupt and ruin my entire experience in New Orleans. Now I am a little at peace with this storm, especially since my experience today at the Red Cross.

Hurricane Isaac courtesy of NOAA

While I was waiting for the provisions to keep coming in, I had this feeling like I was just sitting on my hands watching as everyone prepared for Isaac to descend upon southern Louisiana. So when a fellow of mine Maggie had a friend who was working for the Red Cross, and asked if any of us wanted to help with the Disaster Relief and Sheltering, I jumped at the chance. We arrived at the RC to fill out the paper work and run a basic criminal background check. Of course with all of those who also wanted to volunteer, I was unable to get my background check to go through. So I sat and waited for the check to go through.

As I sat there waiting, I watched as tons of people poured in from other RC chapters across the nation, giving up their time to fly in and help those who they had never met. It gave me a renewed sense of what it means to volunteer, and what people are willing to do when a crisis arises. So now the best thing we can do is sit here in a small apartment and wait for Isaac to pass over and leave his mark on the state. Keep the southern Louisiana area in your prayers as you read this, and know that I am safe, but there are those who have no shelter or ability to stay safe for the duration of this storm.
Listed is a link to the Red Cross website, please if you can donate, or sign up to volunteer.
http://www.redcross.org/

Peace

Uniquely New Orleans

I arrived in this city six days ago, and since then I have had many adventures which were and continue to be nothing like I have ever had before. I have learned so much about this city and it's strange ways. It's politics are frustrating, and it's people are welcoming. They do everything so backwards here, but yet it all strangely still makes sense. I feel the eternal motto for this city is "Live life to the most, celebrate as much as possible, don't take shit from nobody, and always leave room for more." I think it is amazing how people here just seem to find any way of loving life, it makes taking an introverted/extroverted look at one's spirituality very natural and fluid. Even though most churches in the north would say that the people of New Orleans are all sinners, I feel these people know something we don't, and that is God is with us everyday, but at the same time, God wants us to just enjoy life as much as possible. There is so much here that says these people have their minds made up on how to live and the lifestyle is unique to them. The people are all very welcoming and more than willing to show you their way of doing things, of how to say things, and even how they dance/party. I have to say, in five short days, I have slowly come to realize that the motto of New Orleans holds completely true, Laissez Le Bon Temps Roulez! Let the Good Times Roll!

Finding Faith

I don't normally talk about religion all that much, because for the past 10 years I really just stopped going to church. I stopped because I became tired how a social hierarchy and stigma has formed with religion, people don't go because they want to retain their relationship with God, and have meditative discourse with Christ. Mostly I see people going because an older relative is making them go, or because they think it is the right thing to do, which means they are speaking the words and singing the songs but not truly understanding or feeling the meaning behind any of it. Every time I attend a church service no matter the denomination, I try and listen to the sermon and read the passages and sing the songs trying very hard to feel God's presence in the service. I don't really pay much attention to what I am wearing because I highly doubt God nor Jesus has any interest in what shirt I decided to wear to Church that particular Sunday.

Since coming down to New Orleans I have been doing a lot of intense thinking/learning about the meaning of faith and walking with the grace of God. We talk about how faith and religion are two entirely separate entities, and speak about God as if he is our father and friend that we go to see every week. We talk about how he is watching over us and making sure we do not fall or make major mistakes, while allowing us to make decisions on our own. Many times I hear people speaking about God as if he is merely there to clean up after our mess or grant our every wish. God is not a genie, and he is definitely not our mother.

Another aspect of the faith orientation down here in New Orleans, is the idea that we should be grounded in our faith backgrounds. This means for me going back and re-looking at my complicated relationship with the United Methodist Church. My first step to understanding was talking to my father about the United Methodist Church, asking many questions about our differences with other denominations, our specific traditions, the history of the church, and different theologies which came with the creation of the MC (for example; if your ever interested look up "Methodist Quadrilateral" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wesleyan_Quadrilateral). There is so much I am learning about myself spiritually, which I was really hoping I would be doing while I was down here. For the first time in my life I am actually excited about attending church on a regular basis.

Trials, Tribulations, and Warm Welcomes

       So I have finally made it to New Orleans, and what a crazy first half day it has been. I went through a very anxiety filled first flight ever in my entire life, followed by very bumpy wet landing into the Louis Armstrong International Airport, all to find that one piece of my luggage was mistakenly left in Charlotte. But I was warmly welcomed by many of my fellow volunteers who took me around where we are living, and are going to take me to Wal-Mart to replace temporarily what I don't have from my bags (i.e. Shirts).
       It is so strange for me to realize that I am finally here, it sounds strange but it looks exactly as I imagined it would. All of the crazy big fancy houses, the french style wrought iron fences, all like I wanted to come down to. I am loving my time here so far, exploring where to eat was our first challenge, come to find a very local restaurant chain called Jaun's Flying Burrito (think Burritos the size of Chipotle, but the style all its own). I have enjoyed all of the company here so far, everyone in this town is so friendly, and always greeting with a hello. I am curious to start tasting the cajun food that everyone is either warning or raving about (i've heard I will need to have pepto or tums on hand.) Anyway, this a short post just start making some very early observations about my new home, and updating everyone on my starting adventure in the south.

Peace

Last week in PA

         So I created this blog to chronicle all of my time down in New Orleans Louisiana. That's right I will be living down there for an entire year from August 2012 to July 2013. What will I be doing you ask, well as the title of the blog suggests, I will be volunteering. Where pray tell will I be doing this volunteering as so many have asked...with what organization?....do I get a stipend?....where will I be living?....well here is the skinny; I am working with the Episcopal Service Corps (http://www.episcopalservicecorps.org/) if you would like to know more follow the link. I will be spending one year down in New Orleans working with the Jericho Road Episcopal Housing Initiative (http://www.jerichohousing.org/) if you would like to know more about them follow this link. I will be living in simplicity (on a monthly stipend of a little over 300 dollars) in a house with 6 other "fellows" who will be working at other sites of their own. The program we are participating within ESC is the Living With Purpose Fellowship through the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana. What this means is we will be volunteering, finding ourselves spiritually, and walking with God.
         It sounds like a lot but it really isn't and equally it sounds like it is very religious and "jesusy" but I was promised by the program coordinator that it is not that bad, and I will benefit greatly from the experience. Honestly, I don't think I would be getting this great of an experience from Americorps, no offense to those who are serving, their work is truly doing great things for this country. This is something that I need to be doing right now, for several reasons;

1.  I am just out of college and I need a good stepping stone to provide a link into adulthood, which will also provide me with a resume building non-school related work opportunity. 
2. Religion is something that I have struggled with for a long time, and I have always had a underlying mistrust for Christians and Religion. So having a spiritual mentor and a regular church going experience, and weekly times to talk about God in a more grounded tone will give me the spiritual growth I am desperately in need.
3. Erie is getting way too small for me and I need to find who I am away from the constraints of my parents (I love them both dearly, but finding who I am as a person is hard with them around), and being across the country and taking many firsts is just the medicine I need to grow up.

      I have been spending all summer it seems gearing up trying to prepare myself in all dimensions for this new and I can't stress that word enough experience. It has only been within these past few weeks that I have started to finally get myself physically ready to leave. The time is fast approaching for me to board that plane on Saturday August 18th with all my stuff in hand, and being this grand journey of adulthood. This is truly my greatest leap of faith, the push away from my parents to start doing my own thing, my time to make my mark on the world, to start doing something that matters. This is what I have been waiting all of college for...my time to doing something meaningful.

So till next time, which will most likely be when I have landed in NOLA (New Orleans),

Peace